The Empire's Twilight Official Timeline
This is the official timeline of events within "The Empire's Twilight". This is an ongoing process as the story continues to develop. World War II 1942 - Japanese troops are narrowly defeated by British and Commonwealth troops at Singapore. The cost in life is heavy but it marks a turning point in the Pacific War. 1945 - With victory over the Axis powers the new United Nations begins its process of decolonization threatening the existence of the British Commonwealth. Many nations within the Commonwealth either become partially independent or fully independent like India. Yet the Commonwealth remains in a diminshed capacity. Immediate Post War Era (1945-1955) 1947 -Treaty of Paris; Finland endures reparations for allying with Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union during World War II. 1949 -Denmark refuses to join NATO 1953 -Denmark, Sweden and Norway found the SDA (Scandanavian Defense Alliance). Finland is offered a place within the organization but refuses to join. Founding of the New Commonwealth (1955-1962) 1955 - At a meeting held in Auckland, New Zealand in 1955 the first blueprint for what would be a new Commonwealth was put forward. It was entitled "The Empire of Equals." 1956 - '''South Africa grants independance to the South West African territories it previously captured from Germany in World War I and the new nation of Namibia is created. '''1956 - Urho Kekkonen is first elected president of Finland. He will rule the country with an increasingly autocratic fist until his death in 1982. 1957 -''' The Royal Falkland Islands Police Air Wing is founded with a handful De Havilland Chipmunk aircraft. '''1958 -The Soviet Union forces Finland to change the composition of their coalition cabinet after the SKDL(Finnish People's Democratic League) was excluded during it's formation after elections, adding the term "Finlandization" into the lexicon of Cold War international relations. 1962 - '''The Cuban Missile Crisis. The Soviet Union places nuclear missiles on the island of Cuba. The Commonwealth side with the United States and eventually the Soviet Union stands down. It is a key point in history with the US becoming concerned with the amount of power the New Commonwealth wields while the Soviets try to bring closer ties to third superpower embroiled in the Cold War . Breakdown of Commonwealth/US relations (1963-1980) '''1964 - '''On the 5th of June Paulo Francesca flew a Cessna 152 light aircraft to the Falkland Islands from Argentina. He was detected by radar at Stanley airport and a Royal Falkland Islands Police Air Wing Avro Lincoln was quickly scrambled to intercept him. He lands at Stanley airport and is arrested before being returned to Argentina. '''1964 - '''The United States becomes embroiled in the growing conflict in Vietnam. '''1965 - '''A Royal Rhodesian Air Force (RRAF) CF100 Canuck operating as part of Operation; Nightstalker shoots down an An-2 transport plane supporting Rhodesian rebels. '''1965 - '''June 16th, an RAF Canberra F3 collides with a Soviet TU-95 over the North Sea although both aircraft are able to return to their bases safely. '''1967 -Finland joins the Warsaw Pact, starting a vast rearmament of the Finnish armed forces with Soviet-supplied weapons & equipment (It also marks the start of a Cold War pitting pro-Soviet Finland versus pro-New Commonwealth & SDA member Sweden) 1970 - 'October, The Quebec Crisis starts when FLQ terrorists kidnap British Trade Commissioner James Cross from his home. This sets in motion a series of events that would eventually lead to Canadian troops being deployed onto the streets to quell the violence. '''1971 - 'The Quebec Crisis is resolved and James Cross is released by the FQL unharmed. Canadian troops are withdrawn from the streets. '''1972 - Queen Margrethe II ascends to the Danish throne (reigns 1972-1991) 1973 '''- The Irish People's Party come to power in the Republic of Ireland. This gives rise to the short lived People's Republic of Ireland. '''1973 - '''The United States withdraws from Vietnam. Within two years South Vietnam will be under total control of the North. '''1973 - Discrimination against people of Swedish ethnicity in Finland forces thousands to flee to Sweden. The main Finnish party representing the interests of the Swedish minority in Finland, the Swedish People's Party, is banned and ordered to be shut down. 1975 - '''The Third Cod War breaks out in the North Sea between Iceland and the UK. '''1975 - December 21st, an RAF Hawker Harlot shoots down an Icelandic Coast Guard S-2 Tracker that was apparently firing on a British fishing vessel in the North Sea. 1976 - 'the Third Cod War ends with Iceland accepting the previous agreement over fishing grounds. '''1977 - '''The Irish People's Party is overthrown in a popular uprising causing the People's Republic of Ireland to cease to exist. '''1977 - '''President Jimmy Carter cancels the B-1A bomber project. One of Rockwell's engineers subsequently sells the plans for the aircraft to the UK and a British version is soon built called the Blackburn Kingston. '''1979 ' - The Mexican Civil War breaks out with Communist forces rising up against the government. The US supports the exican government but doesn't get directly involved. The Fall of Democracy in the United States of America (1980-1990) '1982 - 'The Falklands War breaks out in the South Atlantic. For the first time the entire armed forces of the New Commonwealth are committed to a single cause. While the Islands are eventually retaken the fighting spills over into neighbouring Chile. '1982 - '''June 13th, the Argentine destoryer [[ARA Hercules|ARA ''Hercules]]'' ''is sunk by Royal Navy aircraft. '''1982 -Mauno Koivisto becomes president of Finland after Kekkonen suffers a fatal heart attack while working in his presidential office. 1983 - With Commonwealth forces entering Argentina, Argentine General Leopold Galtieri is overthrown in an uprising. Commonwealth forces soon withdraw back to Chile and the war is officially declared as over. 1983 - The New Commonwealth council votes to intervene militarily against the growing Communist insurgency in Namibia by Angolan and Cuban forces. 1983 - The Battle of Kavango rages over the skies of Northern Namibia. 1983 - A US Navy P-3C Orion is shot down over the Gulf of Mexico by Mexican Communist forces. 1983 - Disapproving of Finnish President Koivisto's anti-Soviet stance, the Soviets send troops to intervene while the SKDL launches a coup to seize power (the Democratic Republic of Finland is formed with the SKDL ruling in a single-party regime). 1984 - 'The Mexican Civil War ends with a Communist victory. This rocks the increasingly paranoid American people. '''1984 - '''President Reagan announces crippling 20% defence cuts in order to help the ailing US economy recover. This both angers military leaders and strikes fear in the hearts of the US people who feel they are losing the ability to defend themselves. '''1985 - '''A Blackburn Kingston overflies the USS ''Enterprise ''aircraft carrier confirming to the US that the plans for their B-1 bomber had been sold to the UK. '''1986 - '''Red China invades Taiwan sparking the Taiwan Straits War. Despite protests from the United States and theCommonwealth neither get involved and Taiwan falls in just a few weeks. 1987 - Although banned under US law, political groups start to form within the ranks of the US military many of them believing that things have to change if America is to survive in the face of increasing Communist aggression and Commonwealth influence on the world stage. '''1987 '- A US Army Private named Jimmy Rawlins is found dead near a railway track in Pennsylvania, US. It has long since been suspected he was killed after he tried to reveal increasing politicization of the US Army. '''1988 - April. After careful planning a group of high ranking US Military leaders known only as 'The Generals' instigate a coup that successfully topples the United States government. Much of the civilian population oppose the new dictatorship and acts of civil disobedience are commonplace but these are cracked down harshly. The first elements of what would eventually become the FPS appear. 1988 -''' April. In response to the events in the United States, Commonwealth forces based in Canada are put on high alert and rapid reaction forces from the other member nations are rushed to reinforce the border with the US. '''1988 - '''June. The McPherson family are killed by US National Guardsmen at a military checkpoint between South Dakota and Nebraska. The incident sparks retaliation. The incident proves a rally cry for many people in the United States and the first elements of what was to become the Army of American Liberation (AAL) who would fight the Generals until the very fall of the United States. '''1989 - '''The Generals in power within the United States establish the Federal Protection Service (FPS) to counter the increasingly active Army of American Liberation (AAL). '''1989 - '''Large numbers of US citizens try to flee the oppresive regieme of the Generals. Canada is the preferred option for most after the Communist take over in Mexico. The Federal Protection Service (FPS) tries to stop them as best they can even going as far as violating Canadian territory to do so. '''1990 - '''In Alberta, Canada a skirmish takes place between Federal Protection Service (FPS) agents trying to apprehend US refugees and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers. The skirmish leaves three RCMP officers dead and results in Canada closing its border entirely for several days. The '91 Disaster (1991) '''March 25th -Denmark deploys troops to reinforce allies in Hanover. March 25th - Finnish troops illegally move into the internationally-recognized, demilitarized Aland islands causing ethnic cleansing of ehtnic Swedes residing there. 'The '91 War' March 31st - '''The United States of America invade the Commonwealth nation of Canada sparking what would lead to the '91 Disaster. '''April 1st - Unable to stand by & watch the ethnic cleansing going on, Swedish army & naval units intervene in the Aland islands clashing with Finnish army unit. April 3rd -'''Danish troops(along with British, Swedish & Queen's German Legion) fight Warsaw Pact & American forces on the German front. '''April 3rd - Finnish & Soviet tanks begin their invasion of northern Sweden & Norway, with them decisively stopped & pushed back after the battle of Lulea on April 6th. April 3rd -Denmark loses communications with all settlements in Greenland & the Faroe Islands. April 3rd - An unknown US Army officer independantly launches a nuclear missile at a British and Canadian Army column in Central Canada. April 3rd-5th- There is a limited nuclear exchange between the US, the Commonwealth, the Soviet Union and China. Several major cities are destroyed including London in which Queen Elizabeth II and several key members of the Royal family are killed. Total deaths are difficult to estimate because of the loss or lack of records but they range anywhere between 15 to 75 million. April 4th(9:47 a.m.) -Most of the Danish government is destroyed when a nuclear bomb destroys Copenhagen. April 5th - Goldman's Harbour is hit by a 20kt nuclear device. It is one of the last handful of targets to be hit by nuclear weapons. April 5th - 'A ceasefire in North America is declared as the US begin their withdrawal back across the border but fighting the world over goes on for many months and in some cases even years although no more nuclear weapons are launched. All nuclear weapons are stood down as the ceasefire spreads to Europe. Only sporadic conflicts remain after this date which is considered to be the formal end of the '91 Disaster. 'The Aftermath April 6th - '''The Surfaced Submarine Order is given to submarine Captains the world over. All submarines must surface to prevent them from being able to launch anymore nuclear missiles. After 1200hrs ZULU any submarine under the ocean the world over can be attacked without warning. '''April 6th - '''Princess Ann is installed as the Princess Regeant until Prince William comes of age to assume the throne. She becomes the de facto Head of State of the New Commonwealth. '''April 8th -the survivng members of the Danish royal family are massacred as a pro-American military junta overthrows what was left of the Danish government, beginning a two-year civil war between pro-American right-wing military forces & pro-New Commonwealth moderate police & paramilitary units. November 13th - '''The Manchester Uprising begins when armed groups of British Republicans capture the city's Post Office, University and several Police stations. At first the uprising is dismissed as rioting but later gets more serious. A siege of the buildings takes place with the intent of starving the Republicans out. Meanwhile, Republicans not involved in the siege conduct terrorist attacks against government buildings and personnel. '''December 24th - The Christmas Eve Massacre takes place in Manchester. Ten police officers are captured and executed by the Manchester Republicans prompting the Army to be put on to the streets. The New Dark Age (1992-2000) PLEASE NOTE -' In the chaos that followed the '91 Disaster many records were either lost, deliberately covered up/destroyed to hide crimes or not kept in the ifrst place. Therefore much of the following comes from investigation carried out by the New Commonwealth's leading investigative historians but even so exact dates are sometimes difficult to determine. '' '''1992 - By this time the United States in its per-War form no longer exists. Large parts of the north of the country remain under the General's control as the Federal United States of America (FUSA) but they are struggling to hold on to power as crime and poverty create an air of lawlessness. Texas declares itself independant and almost immediately goes to war with Mexico. Within a few years large parts of Mexico will be Texan. 1993 - February - '''An RAF Jet Provost T.3 trainer on an Internal Security Mission over the Yorkshire Dales crashes under mysterious circumstances. The British Government, fearing the aircraft was brought down as part of an uprising similar to the one in Manchester almost two years earlier, instigate a military clampdown in Yorkshire. The clampdown is lifted when it is learned that the aircraft crashed due to a bird strike. '''1993 - June - '''British & Swedish forces intervene in Denmark to overthrow the military junta & end the civil war, establishing a interim non-partisan government '''1994 - '''On the 3rd March the Australian submarine HMAS Freetown hunts down and sinks the warlord Kai-Sen Olan's submarine in the Gulf of Tonkin end his career of piracy. '''1995 - '''The armed forces of Britain invade the Republic of Ireland. The British propaganda machine spentd several weeks leading up to the invasion blasting anti-government messages to the people in the Republic through radio, tv and leaflets to add an air of legitimacy to the impending invasion. In reality it was a land grab by a Britain desperate to survive in the post nuclear war-era. With the New Commonwealth supporting Britain the Irish request help from the Federal United States of America (FUSA) but their request is ignored. The Republic of Ireland is deafeated within a month and the country comes under occupation. '''1997 - A referendum is held in Denmark with Denmark becoming a new member of the New Commonwealth and subsequently the new British monarch becomes Denmark's head of state. '1998 '-The first parliamentary election since the '91 Disaster is held in Denmark with a national unity coalition formed with the Social Democrats, Conservatives & the Liberal Union (a new party formed after the war by a merger of the Social Liberal & Venstre parties). The coalition lasts until 2005, when fresh elections chose the Social Democrats to form the current government. Category:Essay Category:History